CBI clean chit to Tytler timed with polls in mind, say angry Sikhs

New Delhi, April 2 (IANS) Deeply upset over the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) giving a clean chit to Jagdish Tytler in a case related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, many Sikhs here said it was timed to help Tytler, the Congress candidate from Delhi Northeast, with the Lok Sabha elections in mind. They said their faith in the probe agency has been eroded.

“The Congress is helping its leaders by giving them senior positions, and to make it worse the party has now given a ticket to Jagdish Tytler,” said Surjit Singh, who heads the 1984 anti-Sikh riots victims’ welfare society.

“What does the Congress want to convey by giving tickets to such candidates?” he asked.

“We want the Delhi government to take all steps for the rehabilitation of the riot victims, but it is not possible during the Congress rule. That is why we appeal to the people to punish the Congress and dethrone them,” he said.

Amrit Singh Lovely, an anti-sikh riot victim, voicing his anger, said: “Despite the CBI’s move, we will continue our fight against the accused till our last breath. But now our trust in the investigating agency is shattered.”

The CBI, while giving its final report in the case in a court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Rakesh Pandit, pleaded that the case against Tytler be cancelled.

According to a CBI statement, affidavits in the case by two people, Surender Singh and Jasbir Singh, were inconsistent and contradictory.

The court will now conduct the hearing on April 9.

Soon after news of Tytler being given the clean chit spread, hundreds of Sikhs started shouting slogans against the Congress, the CBI and Tytler as well as other senior Congress leaders like Sajjan Kumar for their alleged involvement in the riots.

Protests were also witnessed outside the Congress office.

Reacting strongly to the CBI’s clean chit, H.S. Phoolka, counsel for Sikh riots victims who has spearheaded one of the longest and most tortuous legal battles to gain justice for the victims, said the verdict was “upsetting”.

“Ever since the case went to the CBI, the agency has been eager to give Tytler a clean chit. We will not give up our fight yet,” said Phoolka.

“It is sad to see that even before the seal of the final report was opened, Tytler knew that he had got a clean chit. The CBI is working hand in glove with the accused.”

Tytler was among three prominent Delhi Congress leaders accused of having incited mobs. The two other leaders named were Sajjan Kumar, who is contesting the LOk Sabha poll from South Delhi, and the late H.K.L. Bhagat.

Around 3,000 Sikhs were killed during the riots that broke out in Delhi and neighbouring areas after the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi in October 1984 by two of her Sikh bodyguards to avenge the army entering the Golden Temple to flush out Khalistani militants.